THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, March 25, 1996                 TAG: 9603250117
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Brief 
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                       LENGTH: Short :   29 lines

BRUSH FIRE WAS SET

Investigators say a brush fire that quickly consumed about five acres probably was an act of arson.

Saturday's fire crept up an Interstate 64 embankment at one point and scorched the base of a power line pole at another.

``It looks like there's been some mischief here, and it's a bad day for mischief,'' said Newport News Battalion Chief Lou Stark, referring to the winds that enabled the fire to spread through thick brush and across a dry field. But, Stark said, ``It also could have been somebody flicking a cigarette from the interstate.''

While two residential buildings, a service station and a Virginia Power facility were within 200 yards of the blaze, Stark said none of the structures was seriously threatened.

Stark said fire officials were not likely to spend more effort to determine the cause of the fire unless an arson suspect is found.

KEYWORDS: BRUSH FIRE ARSON by CNB